From 1 – 5 November 2017, take the elevator 64-storeys sky-high to the decadent Peppers Soul Penthouse and dive head-first into the seductive cultural phenomenon that is Hotelling. The brainchild of celebrated Australian interactive artist David Pledger and Bleached Arts’ genre-pushing Artistic Director Louise Bezzina, Hotelling sees the five-star hotel transform into the grandest of stages for a contemporary cultural experience like no other.

Co-curator Louise Bezzina said the immersive cultural event, now in its second year, added a new dimension to the Gold Coast’s iconic holiday landscape.

“Since originating the Gold Coast’s Bleach* Festival in 2012, both locals and visitors to our city have demonstrated an insatiable appetite for unique cultural experiences such as this,” Bezzina said.

“In its premiere year, travellers, thrill seekers and local culture vultures relished the opportunity to immerse themselves in 48-hours of unpredictable art and performance, crisscrossing the corridors, cocktail bars and clandestine corners of QT Gold Coast.

“This year the only way is up, and we’ve assembled an eclectic ensemble of truly adventurous Australian artists, led by the fearless Todd MacDonald as our beguiling host, to throw a salacious, over-the-top penthouse party unlike anything the Gold Coast has ever seen.”

Summoned to Peppers’ breathtaking Penthouse apartment, with uninterrupted views of the Pacific Ocean, audience members are invited into the intoxicating world of ‘Richard Hightower’ (MacDonald); one of the world’s richest businessmen who will conduct his most extravagant connivance in honour of his 118th birthday.

Described as “the mother of all Last Suppers”, Hotelling injects audience members into the heart of the story, where they feast not only on Hightowers’ intriguing tale, but also on sumptuous bites and sommelier-curated wines from Peppers’ hatted restaurant, Seaduction.

Co-curator David Pledger described the Hotelling experience as “an alchemy of contemporary art and cultural hospitality”.

“Part wake, part grande-bouffe, part end-of-days cataclysm, Hotelling is all party,” Pledger said.

“If you took a twist of Jay Gatsby, an inch of JG Ballard and a shot of Margaret Attwood and mixed it in a cocktail of cold hard cash, that’s the kind of sensory swallow you experience at a Hightower happening.”

Hotelling is a cultural tourism initiative of City of Gold Coast, presented by Bleached Arts and Peppers Soul.